Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today
by Kyrseis
Summary: Yesterday, I was a princess. Next week, I may be Queen. As for right now, I am absolutely and positively scared out of my ever-loving mind." Spoilers through finale. Cornelia/Guilford. Oneshot.


**Title: **Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today.

**Fandom: **Code Geass

**Pairing: **Guilford/Cornelia

**Rating: **Moar G. Someday I'll write something more than G. Maybe.

**Warnings: **Sickeningly sweet and sappy. Spoilers. Don't tell me you weren't warned.

* * *

Yesterday, I was a princess. Next week, I may be Queen. As for right now, I am absolutely and positively scared out of my ever-loving mind.

I combed my trembling fingers through long lilac locks in slight frustration and absolute dread. In a perfect world, Euphie would be here to help me. She was always so much better at this than I was. Thinking of the loss of my baby sister still forced me to blink back tears even now. But today I'll smile instead. That's what Euphie would have wanted me to do.

I hope you're watching from somewhere, Euphie. I'm finally doing something for me. I think you would be happy about that.

After several attempts to sweep my unruly locks into somethine elaborate, I settled on sweeping two parts around to the back of my head. There. Simple but oddly beautiful and somehow perfectly suited for me. I was a commander, a fighter, a soldier. Elaborate and ornamental just doesn't work for me, it would seem. With that thought, I bypassed most of the creams and powders across the mirrored vanity- viewing most of them as excess. Euphie probably would have argued with me about that one too, I thought with a chuckle.

I remember when Clovis first designed this dress for me- he had made some sort of remark about how I never wore pretty things. That was not entirely true though- I did wear nice things sometimes. I just never wore them near as often as he and Euphie did. But I definitely remember when he first handed the sketch to me- simple white silk that flowed and dipped but never did quite touch the ground- and told me how perfect it would be for me someday. I remember how it took my breath away, but I told him that I'd never wear it. Well what do you know, Clovis? You were right in the end after all. It is perfect.

_Knock knock_. "Big sister?"

"Nunally." I said with a smile, after opening the door. I also extended that smile to a very pregnant Ougi Viletta who was standing behind her chair. Nunally grew wide-eyed as she looked me up and down.

"I came to tell you that it's about time. You look beautiful, sister!" She said with a smile that seemed to radiate from her kind heart. Nobody will ever know how relieved I am to see that smile- after Lelouch died, nobody thought she would ever smile again. We were wrong, however. With a spirit like hers, I hope she never stops smiling- not even on that day when she takes over the crown of Britannia.

"Thank you, Nunally." I notice something circular clutched gingerly in both of her hands. "What is that?"

"Oh!" She reached out those two hands and the object to me. It was a crown of tiny white flowers intricately woven together. "Do you remember when You, Euphie, Lelouch, and I would make these? Back when we were all together?" She may have worn a beautiful smile, but I could see the tears that threatened behind her eyes as she said it. I nodded, blinking back tears of my own caused by the onslaught of happy memories. "Think of it as a gift for the occasion. From big brother."

I felt as if I could fall apart.

"Would you like to help me out then?" I knelt down to where I was eye level with her and tilted my head to where she could put the delicate blossoms over my lavender hair. "Thank you, little sister." I whispered in her ear before giving her a kiss on the cheek and the warmest hug I could possibly manage. "I wish they were all here too."

"They are, Onee-sama. I think they always will be." A single tear found its way down her pale cheek, but the smile never left her lips.

I began to think that maybe she was right.

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was ushered outside by Viletta and an exquisitely dressed Jeremiah Gottwald offered a regal bow at my approach. "Your highness" he addressed me as he held out an arm for me to take. "Are you ready for this?"

I wanted to scream that I wasn't sure about the answer to that question myself. I used to spend my life in service to my kingdom and to my father. Britannia had always been my first love- and I never thought for an instant that my first and second loves could ever coexist. My country before myself- as a princess that was the motto I had lived by. But today, I was doing something completely uknown. I was dedicating my life to something that was not Britannia, something that was not for the emperor.

I was doing something that I desired for me and only me. And it scared me half to death. I wanted to take off these ridiculous fancy shoes and run. Give me a sword instead of these flowers in my hand. I always felt much safer behind steel than lilies.

"Yes." I lied and my stomach flopped as he led me behind Viletta and Nunally towards that white arch at the top of the hill. I probably cut the circulation off from his arm with how tightly I was holding on. The music hit my ears and I nearly went into a panic. When Jeremiah and I passed under the first white arch, the small crowd of people moved to their feet and the music seemed to surge louder. I tried to school my expression so that the guests couldn't see how truly panicked I was.

That was when I felt it. It felt like it could have been the wind pushing against he fabric of the dress, but it almost felt like two arms around me. Then came the slight pressure on my cheek that probably came from the flowers in my hair. And then I saw him standing at the end of the path. He was smiling, and I was no longer afraid. My feet found the strength to move, but only towards him. Nothing else mattered than the fact that I loved him and that I chose him.

Except maybe for the fact that he had chosen me all along.

I was vaguely aware of Jeremiah giving me yet another bow, and even less aware of the fact that Villetta had taken my lilies. The fact that he held my hands monopolized the entirety of my attention. He bent over to kiss my cheek and whisper in my ear. Had his long dark hair not neatly been tied back for the occasion, it probably would have cascaded over my shoulders.

"You look beautiful, love." I chuckled.

"But you can't see me, Gilbert."

"I just know. You always do."

"I love you.""I always have. Are you ready?"

"Yes." And this time I didn't lie. With a smile on both of our faces, we carefully but confidently mounted the steps to the altar. They had been through war together and both had at one time seemed to die and come back to the other. What were a few more steps and words, after all?

Yesterday, I was a princess. Next week, I may be Queen. Today, however, I am going to just be Cornelia.

* * *

As the crowd followed the happy newlyweds back towards the palace for the reception, a woman with a white dress and erethreal pink locks looked on. "She looked beautiful today, don't you think?" She said, looking back towards the two men standing behind her.

"Of course she did, that was my dress!" The blond man said, trying to act flippant, but unable to hide the smile on his face. The rose-haired girl swatted at him in mock annoyance before the third came up beside her with a quiet laugh.

"I think it's because it's the happiest I've ever seen her." He said, and he took his sister's hand. "She'll make a good queen. I'm just glad she doesn't have to do it alone."

"She's never been alone, Lulu." She turned her eyes back onto the celebration, and if she was saddened that she couldn't join in, she didn't show it. "Besides. She'll always have us."

The three of them stood in silent agreement as the light of the setting sun carried them away.


End file.
